Sept. 2020- Week 4- P/T Conferences, Park for Cousins BDs, Truman Play, Driveway Torn up, Lake Mary Hike, Ben Hike, Flu Shots, Webster Dinner

 Tuesday Bethany was still home sick from school with a cold.  We also finally got a school computer to use at home!  Sharing 2 computers with 4 kids was getting tricky.  Having just one more device helped so much!  Henry and Desi came over to play and Bethany had a zoom meeting where she wrote letters in shaving cream on a cookie sheet.  She loved it!  Bethany also had dance virtually.  After dinner that night, I watered our new plants and weeded some outside.  It was also Cooper Johnson's birthday and my kids invited themselves to participate in his pinata in their garage. :)  After kids were in bed, we watched a documentary called "Social Dilemma," which is all about social media and the tactics they use to keep us hooked.  It was pretty eye opening. 

Wednesday we had parent/teacher conferences over Zoom.  All of our kids got great reviews from their teachers and we feel so blessed!  We also noticed some of our new plants were getting eaten by the deer, so we temporarily borrowed some tomato cages from Brynn to try to protect them.  I spent most of the evening after kids were in bed cleaning out my email inbox.  Still have a lot of work to do there.

Thursday our kids only had school at home due to P/T conferences and it was the PM kids' turn to attend in person.  I helped Ben with his book report which was a book recommendation commercial.  He created an iMovie trailer recommending the first book in the Box Car Children series.  We packed a lunch and went to a park in Centerville and met Lara, Abril, Adam, Brynn, and Swa there to play and celebrate Hailey's 6th BD.  We also finally had a crew come and tear up our drive way approach and sidewalk that were crumbly and falling apart.  We'd been on a waiting list since April!  We had fun watching them work and I called Jonathan as well.  That evening, I took McKenna and Ben to see Truman and Henry Stewart in their school play "James and the Giant Peach" where Truman played James!  This was the play they were supposed to perform back in March when things shut down.  They had some technical difficulties with Truman's mic, but from what we could hear, he did so awesome!  After that, Ben was able to make it to 20 mins of baseball practice.  When we got home, lots of neighbor kids were outside playing in our torn up driveway and Dan was chatting with Nate Scott.  

Friday I went walking with Rachael and Ben had a student council meeting.  I talked with Meghan for a while and watched the workers lay the forms for concrete.  Ben went hiking with Caleb on the Bonneville shoreline trail.  Desi and Mabel came over from 12-4:30 pm. Henry and Taggart also came over.  McKenna and Bethany played at Lyla's.  That night, Aliza came to help McKenna babysit while Dan and I went on a date to In N Out, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot.  After kids were in bed, Dan and I watched "Knives Out" in the theater room.  

Saturday we packed a lunch after breakfast and drove to Lake Mary.  We hiked with the Moultons and Pugsleys.  It was still pretty, even though the Fall colors were mostly gone.  We got home around 2:45 and talked with the Johnsons.  I took the three big girls to Lyla's so they could use their equipment to do 'Peter Pan' flying in their big trees. The Leflers also have awesome dress-ups the girls were in heaven.  I took Ben and Alice to Target to trade in our old car seats.  Dan built better plant cages around our new plants.  I picked up the girls from Lefler's.  Dan mowed the lawn, but had a little trouble with the gas being too old, so he had to change it out.  After kids were in bed I did a load of laundry and cleaned.  

Sunday we had in-person church and Anna came this time.  Mickelle also joined us.  McKenna gave her first talk in Sacrament meeting and it was about service.  We hung out with Mickelle a little that afternoon.  That evening we had a Webster family dinner at Jake and Abril's outside and celebrating September BDs.  

Monday the kids had no school due to a teacher prep day.  Anna went to Emi's to play.  I took Alice on ministering visits to Janel's and Amanda's.  We had a quick lunch and then went to the health department to get flu shots.  Sadly, Ben had a reaction to it and threw up and almost passed out.  Poor guy, though he recovered just fine.  The girls played at a park, this time for cousin Charlie's BD.  We got our new cement poured!  Dan helped Sam and Lara move into their new house!  I put up Halloween decorations, tidied the basement, folded laundry, and worked on my Nelson News article.  

Tuesday was a heavy cleaning day!  I swept, vacuumed the basement and stairs, cut the hair off the vacuum, and cleaned the kitchen sink.  After homework Bethany had dance and we looked at some costume stuff at the Johnson's.  McKenna is excited to be Hermione!  Anna played with Desi and Mabel.  Ben played Legos at Johnson's.  After dinner we played outside and had otter pops. Dan had bishop stuff.  

Wednesday we had a normal morning and after lunch the kids had piano.  McKenna and Ben had virtual Harry Potter club.  I worked on the blog outside on the porch.  Ben had baseball practice.  I went to pick him up and the van battery died.  McKenna gave the three little girls showers/baths. I worked more on the blog while Dan was at church. 

September Videos:

https://youtu.be/om2iZ-0c5Eg

Alice singing “I Know Him” from Hamilton, Ben baseball, Wind Storm clean up, Alice reading “More Spaghetti, I say!”

Sept. 2020- Week 3- "Echo" Book Club, Swimming at Winegar's, Rubberband Jewelry, Ben Boy Cousin Night, New Plants, Bethany Cold

 Tuesday was a pretty normal day.  The kids played with the Johnsons and Henry Alexander.  That night I went to book club at Sarah Moulton's to discuss the book "Echo." It was a great discussion about the power of music.  

Wednesday the kids started waking up with alarms.  Such a great thing!  After they left I worked on collaging phone pictures.  Ben played at Lewis's.  McKenna joined the zoom Harry Potter club at school.  I took my three girls, Cooper, Desi, and Mabel to Lewis Park to play for a bit.  Sara Stewart happened to be there too.  That night Dan and I were able to chat with both our parents and I looked over some Primary music stuff.  

Thursday I attended a primary presidency meeting to talk about how we could possibly put together some sort of primary program this year.  It was great to be with the presidency and Alice loved playing with all the other kids there.  After lunch and homework, Ben and Anna went out with the Alexanders to sell elastic band "jewelry."  Bethany played at Adam and Mia's.  I called Jonathan and attended music with Bethany.  While Anna was at dance, Desi stayed to play with Alice, which was so cute and nice of her.  I worked on more picture collages that night while Dan had Bishop meetings.  

Friday I ran 2 miles outside and the kids did some homework before breakfast.  Ben had a student council meeting and Dan took McKenna and Anna to shop for birthday presents for friends.  I worked on a grocery order and Amy Hamblin came over to talk more about primary music stuff.  We packed a lunch and went swimming at the Winegar's.  Swa, Brynn, Abril, and Laurie were all there.  Anna went to McKayla Searle's Birthday party.  After dinner, Ben went to hang out with boy cousins at the Winegar's.  Dan and I went on a date to Hug-He's.  After kids were in bed, we had a friends game night with the Johnsons, Alexanders, and Rowes.  We played the headphone game and laughed really hard at Rachael yelling her responses.  

Saturday Ben's friend Nate Johnsen and Bethany's friend Arlee came to play.  It rained a lot that morning.  Later, Lyla and Emi came to play with McKenna and Anna.  I love it when we can let each kid have a play date!  After lunch and the rain let up, we went to J and J's garden center in Layton to buy some plants.  We got home and cleaned the basement while Dan worked on the sprinklers.  After dinner, we went to the Pugsleys to hang out, along with the Moultons.  We talked and played Skyjo and had dessert.  McKenna went to Brinley Aune's outdoor movie birthday party.  Unfortunately, Bethany started having a runny nose.  :(

Sunday during at-home church, we had a lesson about Christ's visit to the Nephites in the Americas.  We watched a video and talked about what it would have felt like to be there and I totally felt the Spirit.  I so wished I could have been there to witness that great event.   After lunch, we watched "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," and later napped.  After dinner, we walked around the neighborhood down to the Kump's and back.    

Monday Bethany's cold was too bad for her to go to school, so she stayed home as a distance learner.  It was pretty slick to have that option.  After lunch and laundry, Bethany had Zoom meetings.  I did some yard work and Dan and I planted the new plants we bought on Saturday. Ben had a baseball game that evening and we talked with the Leavitt's the whole time because their son was on the opposing team.  

Sept. 2020- Week 2- Wind Storm!, Sod Over Flower Beds, Anna Movie Night, 2 Gophers

Tuesday morning I was awake from about 4-6am listening to the wind howl outside.  Just as Dan and I were about to wake up the kids for school at 6:30am, we were alerted school was cancelled due to the weather.  During breakfast it was still blowing so hard that Alice kept saying, "I'm scared of the windys."  After breakfast Dan left to walk around the neighborhood and assess the damage from the winds, and it was still pretty blustery.  By 11:30am, the winds had died down enough that people were assembling to begin clean up.  We were so blessed to not have any damage at all!  Our neighbors, the Yeates, lost roof shingles and their trampoline narrowly missed both our house and the Johnson's.  Our old house had two large trees come down in the back.  The biggest one landed right between our old house and Jerry's.  Paul Schmutz had a very large tree come down on this house which caused some damage. The kids worked on their online homework and thankfully, we had power and internet all day!  Many others were not so lucky and were without power for days!  Our lights did flicker and the internet struggled at times, but overall, everything was business as usual.  My parents came down from Layton later in the day because their internet had been down all day and my dad needed to get something for work done. My mom and Ben made some jello gummies and the kids all played a piano piece or two for grandma.  We decided to order pizza for dinner and I kept laundry going.  That night, I started sleeping with ear plugs in as the wind was expected to pick up.  

Wednesday the kids did not have school again and the tree clean-up continued.  There wasn't any new damage done over night, but there was still so much to do.  Dan estimated around 60+ trees came down just in our ward alone.  McKenna even went to help with the clean up with the young women.  I started cleaning my master bathroom and got about halfway done when OUR power went out!  So weird.  Alice made some funny faces while wearing a super hero mask.  After lunch, I did some yard clean up of our own from about 2-4pm.  The kids played in gopher dirt and made mohawk mountain.  I mostly picked up leaves and a few big branches here and there.  Dan was pretty much gone all day doing clean up around the ward.  He stayed home that evening and bathed the girls while I went to Ben's baseball game where they won!  It was pretty cold and windy there.  Thankfully, our power came back on around 7pm.  Mickelle spent the night that night because her power was out and she needed power for her sleep apnea CPAP machine.  

Our old house

The Schmutz's

Other damage around the ward.

Our Stake Center parking lot became a temporary green waste dump site.  This helped save so much time for those doing the clean up because now they didn't have to drive all the way out to the city landfill and wait in long lines before getting another load.  The city later came and took truckloads from our parking lot out to the dump.  

Thursday the kids were back to school like normal, for one day for the week.  After school, Ben went to Henry's and I called Jonathan.  Bethany and Anna had music and dance.  We babysat Zaza Moulton for a bit and I made a Lemon Taragon chicken bow tie pasta that was a copycat recipe from Plates and Palets.  I really liked it!  The kids, not so much.  We cleaned the basement and I talked a lot with Dan that night after he got home from another full day of clean up.  He shared a pretty miraculous story. Dan was asked to drive the big truck/trailer of a neighbors, so he gave his car keys Steven Day so he could transport people to the next work site. After the next site, Steven realized the keys were no longer in his pocket and were undoubtedly now in the bottom of the trailer. A neighbor had a metal detector, so we decided they would use that to find the keys once the trailer had dumped everything. Miraculously, as the load was getting dumped Steven saw the keys the moment the load slid all the way out of the trailer. Amazing!! He even got a video of that moment... There were so many neighbors who stepped up to help throughout the week to work together!  

Friday Ben had a student council meeting.  Dan and I moved some plants out of two flower beds so we could sod over them and have a little less weeding.  Caleb Arnold came over later to play with Ben.  We had lunch and as Dan was putting the trailer back in place, it slipped and he accidentally broke his tail light.  Later, Ben went to Mason and Cash Stewart's birthday party.  They had a bounce house planned and were still waiting for their power to be restored from the wind storm.  So they made rubber band bracelets while they waited.  It all turned out great in the end!  That night, for our date, Dan and I took our comforter to a laundromat and had dinner across the street at Smokin' Bones.  We also ran errands to Michael's, At Home, and Autozone.  I was looking for some nick knacks to put on our bathroom shelves.  After little kids were in bed, we started watching "Hamilton" with McKenna.  Mickelle spent the night again because she was still without power.  

Saturday I ran a 5K outside and it felt good!  After breakfast, Ben and Bethany did their art assignments and McKenna and Anna exercised in the basement gym.  Dan took the older 4 to do some final tree clean up. Dan also mowed our lawn and caught another gopher!  We had Desi, Mabel, Henry and Brittana here to play. McKenna and Brittana did a weird taste test experiment.  :)  Later, the three little girls got to have a bath in the big master bathroom tub.  Anna had a movie night in the theater room with Desi, Mabel, Alex Boes, and McKayla Searle watching the live action Beauty and the Beast.  McKenna went to a birthday party that evening for the Remington triplets and then we watched more "Hamilton."

Sunday we had home Sacrament and the kids played nice in the basement in the afternoon.  They made their own little shops and then watched "Zootopia."  We went on a walk after dinner and then had otter pops outside. 

Monday after our normal morning, I went to see a doctor about my elbow pain I'd been having for two months!  It had been hurting since the 4th of July after playing pickle ball.  He  said I sprained my elbow and to treat it he gave me a wrist brace to wear for 6 weeks. Cooper came to play and Ben played with Grace Whitchurch.  I listened to the book "Them" and looked up other possible books for my next book club pick.  Dan caught another gopher, the fourth one this Summer!  Ben had a baseball game which was not so good, but he always says he has fun.  McKenna lost a tooth that Dan pulled and we watched more "Hamilton." 

Sept. 2020- Week 1-New Carpet, Bethany 5yr Check-up, Labor Day Weekend at Mantua, Grandfather's 96th BD

 Tuesday morning Dan conducted the funeral for Marilyn Hammond's mother.  After school, the kids played with the Alexanders and I hung out outside and listened to my book. Bethany had her first day of dance for the new school year!  Dan ripped out the old carpet in the family room, master bedroom, and master closet.  McKenna hung out with Brittana and they made lip gloss using a kit McKenna had.  Ben had batting practice and Dan also went to a missionary setting apart for Harrison Bartschi.  After kids were in bed, Brian Stewart and Mat Ulmer came and helped rip out carpet staples ...which is such a tedious task.  Dan and I slept in the basement that night after lots of sweeping.  

Wednesday our new carpet got installed!  It feels heavenly!  Bethany had a play date at cousin Mia's.  I deep cleaned the family room windows and shutters before we moved the couch back into place.  I listened to my book a lot.  Dan Bramall came over to help Dan move our bedroom furniture back in our room.  Tanner and Cooper came over for a bit.  Ben had baseball practice and I spent a lot of the evening cleaning the kitchen floor.  

Thursday Bethany had her 5 year old check-up.  

Height: 42.1in (2.7 in increase in 1 year) 20th%

Weight: 33lbs (2 lb increase in 1 year) 5th%

We also got word early in the morning that the kids' piano teacher and our loving neighbor, Marilee Novak, was hit by a car!  The driver was blinded by the sun and just didn't see her.  Thankfully, it was more of a side swipe and her only injury was a badly broken ankle and a sore back.  After lunch, Brynn and Brian stopped by to see the new carpet.  The kids played with the Alexanders then Bethany and Anna had music and dance.  Dan took Ben to the Holdstock's for batting practice.  After dinner Dan and McKenna went to help lay sod at the Boes' house.  After kids were in bed, Dan and I finished the "Last Man on Earth" series.  Such a funny series and we wish it hadn't been cancelled.  

Friday I ran outside and then we cleaned up a fresh gopher mound.  After breakfast the kids did homework and their first virtual art lessons.  Anna made an apple, and Bethany was exploring shapes and elements of art. Their teacher, Ms. Chris, is so awesome! I went outside to weed and listened to my book.  Ben, Henry, and Taggart played together.  We picked up groceries and put the camping trailer back in storage.  Anna played at Alex Boes' and McKenna had Lia over.  That night we had pizza at Dave and Laurie's and watched the new live action "Mulan." I loved it!

Saturday we packed and headed up to Mantua for Labor Day weekend.  We stopped in Layton first to have lunch with my parents.  My dad made french toast and my mom made apple pie cheesecake mini tacos that were amazing!  They spoiled us.  We played games with them and the girls did dress up.  We got to Manuta by 3:15 and sadly Dan had a headache which required him to rest for a while. We had pizza for dinner and the kids swam.  We  did showers and Abril braided the girls' hair.  After kids were in bed, we played Skull King and golf and I had a rough night sleeping due to Ben sneezing a lot and other kids or things in the room being loud.  

Sunday I fed my three little girls while the rest of us fasted.  We had family sacrament meeting and testimonies were shared.  We then watched and participated in the family Zoom meeting for Grandfather's 96th Birthday!  It was so great to see everyone in the Nelson family even if it was virtually.  It was especially wonderful to hear Grandfather teach us the ABCs or increasing our Spiritual Light! A- Be Attractive, B- Be Bright, C- Build Character.  For the Webster family contribution, we rewrote the words to the song "Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music and sang about our favorite things about Grandfather.  The whole call was about an hour and 45 mins and Alice fell asleep on me.  After dinner the Stewarts came up and we played outside on their hover boards with go-cart kits.  Once kids were in bed, we made peach shakes and played more card games and then played a game Sam had on his computer and we projected on the big screen.  

Monday was Labor Day.  I went running and Dan went biking.  After eating, we went to the park.  The kids played at the park while the grown-ups played pickle ball on the courts.  After lunch, the Winegars and Dave and Laurie came up.  We all hung out by the pool for the afternoon. D and L brought a waterproof speaker which made it so fun to have music out there.  Then we reminisced about old songs and played a bunch of them! We had a yummy dinner and then left for home by 7:15pm.  When we got home, we prepped for a wind storm that was headed our way.  We brought in cushions and the water table and moved the grill.  

*While we were at Mantua, Abby and Alice we pretty cute together and played nicely a lot!